Apple Newton vs Apple iPhone

The iPhone isn't the only Apple product that entered a market and stomped over its competitors like Godzilla at a newt convention. The iPod destroyed every other MP3 player and left a generation wondering what those shiny silver CD thingies are. And the iPhone has an iPod stuffed inside like a chicken stuffed inside a goose. Then inside the chicken, Apple's stuffed the iTunes store. So it's a goose, stuffed with an MP3 player, stuffed with every song ever recorded. It's the turducken of handheld devices. Beat that, Rory.

You've made me hungry -- hungry for victory! The Newton's special ability, wait for it -- is its ability to work as a phone. Blam! Not even the iPhone can do that. Simply grab yourself a device such as the FirstFone -- a GSM phone built into a PC Card -- jam it into the side of your MessagePad 2000, fire up the Newton's built-in Calls application, and natter away to your heart's content.

Now you're rocking, I'll finish you off with the fact that the Newton can play music too -- even via iTunes! Just download the Mad Max application and it'll let you play MP3 files, Icecast or Shoutcast streams. As for your precious iTunes, us Newtonheads have that, too. Newton geeks have already written a plug-in for iTunes that allows the iconic device to be synced with your beloved digital jukebox.

The Newton may be old and dusty, but it still shows the young pretenders a thing or too. The iPhone is a superior device in many ways, we'll admit, but when it comes to sheer innovation, the Apple Newton MessagePad is a true pioneer. Long live the king.